


Yellow

by Zoya113



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Kinda fluff, Remember that PEIP chara I invented once, its about the symbolism, kinda angst, to give Schaeffer a backstory w a brief fleeting implied romance, yeah ash is back very briefly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:41:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25417858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoya113/pseuds/Zoya113
Summary: Schaeffer and Melissa go flower shopping after something catches Schaeffer’s attention.
Relationships: Colonel Schaeffer & General Mcnamara, Colonel Schaeffer & Melissa, Implied mcnamander
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	Yellow

**Author's Note:**

  * For [razussy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/razussy/gifts).



> thIS ONE IS IN RAZUSSYS HONOUR 😌💕

Sunflowers were what reminded her of Ashley. Maybe it was the colour, or maybe it was the way they grew together. 

Schaeffer didn’t remember Ashley saying anything about her favourite sort of flower, let alone any. Hell, she didn’t think Ash ever wore any yellow. Was it a colour she liked? Schaeffer didn’t know what it was about sunflowers in particular, but sometimes they made her stop in her tracks. 

“Hey Schaeffer?” Melissa asked, giving her a very gentle touch on her arm to grab her attention. “What’s up?” 

“I’m looking at the flowers,” she reported. 

“Yeah, they’re pretty right?” Melissa took a sip of her iced tea, waiting patiently for Schaeffer to come back to her senses. 

Schaeffer didn’t nod. It wasn’t like she was taken by their beauty. “They’re fine flowers, Melissa.” 

She gave a chuckle that insisted Schaeffer might’ve been missing something. “What are you laughing at?”

“If they’re just ‘fine’ why have you been staring at them for so long?” She leant up against the fence too. 

“Well,” she didn’t have an answer off the top of her head. “They’re-“ she couldn’t describe them. She flexed her hands, running her thumbs over her fingers. “They’re quite nice, Melissa.” She just wanted her to be quiet for a second to give her some time to work out what was going on in her head, but Melissa was making her way on forward down their usual walking trail, waiting for her to tag along. 

“Are you coming?”

“I like these flowers, Melissa,” she repeated, taking some reluctant and forced steps backwards, she didn’t feel done with them yet. She hadn’t figured out their pull. 

Melissa nodded. “Yeah not many people grow sunflowers, but you can’t just climb into their garden and take them,” she snorted. “You looked like you were about to.”

“I could if I wanted to,” she corrected her. 

“I meant it hypothetically, Schaeffer,” she linked arms with her to keep her walking, even though Schaeffer wanted to turn back to go see the flowers again. “You really like them! Are they your favourite? Mine is lavender, or maybe cherry blossoms.”

Schaeffer didn’t quite hear her. 

“I like lots of flowers actually. I really want a garden but I can’t grow anything but succulents in my apartment,” she let out a heavy sigh but Schaeffer just shook her head to shake the noise off her train of thought. 

“One day though, when I get a girlfriend and we move to the mountains and have lots of space to grow things? It’s gonna be so-“

“I want one of those flowers,” she declared. 

Melissa took a tighter hold of her arm. “You can’t just take them.”

“No, I want to buy them, Melissa. I’m not going to steal them don’t be stupid,” she ripped her arm back so she could cross them. “Where can I buy them if you know so much about flowers?”

“Oh,” she took a sip of her tea again, but  
Schaeffer grunted, glaring. 

“Where?” She repeated herself, she didn’t have time. All of a sudden she was feeling very short on it. 

“The flower shop? You could probably get a bouquet there.”

“Yes but then it will die,” said Schaeffer, one hand gripping at her heart. “Even if I look after it, it will die and I don’t want it to die, Melissa.”

She raised her eyebrows, getting the note Schaeffer wanted to hurry up and picking up her pace to finish off the walking trail to get back to her car. “I could check my phone maps. There’s probably a botanist around here or something. I think I’ve seen one before.” 

“You’re moving too slow, Melissa,” she informed her rather helpfully.

She broke out into a jog to keep up with her longer strides. “Why do you want sunflowers all of a sudden?” 

“I don’t need them that badly. There’s just no reason to waste time.”

“What! You’re running!” She pointed out. “I thought we had all day to hang out?” 

Schaeffer nodded to confirm it. “I never said we didn’t, we’re just making the most of it by working faster is all.” 

———————————————————

Melissa didn’t know what was going on in her friend’s head once they got to the plant shop. 

She was standing over the plant pots, she was kind of sniffling and her face was a little red but there wasn’t much going on in her eyes it seemed. 

“Schaeffer, are you crying?” She asked. “Or is I hay fever?”

“No, why would I be crying?” She rubbed her palm over one eye. “It’s allergies, Melissa.” 

“Oh.” She quickly returned to minding her own business. Schaeffer would not be happy if she started prying. 

She went to go browse through the flowers on her own, looking at the herbs and office plants any any more succulents she could perhaps grow at her desk or in the sunnier areas of her apartment, but Schaeffer was still standing there, just staring.

She eventually made her way back to her, kind of getting a little bored of the plant shop now. “Do you want the sunflowers, Schaeffer?” She pointed at the pot plants her friend was staring at. 

“I don’t know,” she answered, still seeming quite thoughtful. Honestly Melissa thought perhaps she’d just prefer to stare at them. She seemed a little too busy to start tending to a garden. 

“Well, what do you like about sunflowers?” She begun, ready to help Schaeffer break it down. “Do you like flowers?”

“...” silence. 

“Do you like the way they look?” 

She adjusted her stance slightly, widening her gait and putting a hand to her chin. 

“Yellow is nice, right?” She leant in, trying to see things from Schaeffer’s point of view. But nope, they were just flowers. 

Schaeffer absently guided her back out of her line of sight. “Yes,” she answered. “Isn’t it Melissa?” She clicked her fingers, her nose scrunching up as she racked her brain in search of a word. “Yellow, that’s happy. Isn’t it?” 

“Haha, meaning?” Melissa picked up the flower pot in one hand. “Well, how about we buy one then huh? Do you know how to look after one?” She pulled out her phone again, ready to double check the basics.

“Well I’ll work it out. I’ll have to do the study,” she assured her, which was a bit odd for Schaeffer. She found it kind of charming, how badly Schaeffer clearly wanted those flowers, she was even willing to do the reading. 

“Lets do it’s together then huh? I’ll help you! We have the rest of the day,” she smiled up at her. “We can go back to my apartment and we’ll get lunch there instead!” 

Schaeffer paused for a second, still staring at the flower in Melissa’s hand and now she was worried she was in some sort of trace. “Stand still,” she ordered, turning on her heels and matching off. 

Melissa watched her go, wondering if Schaeffer was going to be like this for every flower. Whatever it was about this sunflower though, it was sweet. 

“Here. I’m buying this for you.” A second pot plant was shoved into her hands. 

“Oh gosh,” she tried to balance them both in her grip, but the sunflower pot was big and the other was heavy. 

“Lavender. You said you liked it didn’t you?” She raised an eyebrow. 

She nodded with a small laugh. “Yes Schaeffer I do, but it would just die in my apartment. I don’t get enough sunlight. My window faces the east, I only get morning sun. It’s not enough.”

Schaeffer blinked, her eyes wide and her brows knitted like she still had a lot to learn about plans. 

“Ridiculous. Hand it back then, Melissa. I’ll take care of it for you.” She snatched it back, holding it in one hand so she could collect the sunflower too, quite determined to hold both of them. 

“Do you like sunflowers?” She inquired again to see whether Schaeffer had made up her mind or not. 

“They’re not my favourite flower. I just like them. They just remind me of someone.”  
———————————————————

“A little bit of shopping huh?” Mcnamara leant his head into Schaeffer’s office to welcome her back. “I thought you weren’t into flowers,” he gestured to the flowers on her desk. 

She sipped at the coffee on her table, but seemed to recoil ever so slightly at the taste. “Well I liked these two,” she told him. “This was supposed to be for Melissa but she wasn’t able to look after it.” She shut her computer down, standing up from her desk for the night and collecting the flowers again. 

“Where do you think you’re going to put those? Do you know where to grab them?” He followed her down the hallways as she walked.

“Well, I was thinking of of keeping this one in the barracks with me,” she handed him the lavender to hold. “Be careful, don’t drop that,” she warned. 

“Well you can’t grow a sunflower inside,” he chuckled, just making sure she knew. 

“I know, General Mcnamara, I’m not an idiot,” she snorted as she kicked open the exit doors to the training field, holding onto the pot very carefully. “My friend and I spent a very long time looking up how to take care of one so I don’t accidentally kill it.” She nodded her head in the directed of the slope to invite him to follow her. 

“Maybe i should invest in a PEIP community garden or something,” he joked. “Think that would be therapeutic? Xander likes bluebells, you know.”

“Oh I don’t like flowers all that much,” she admitted. “This one just caught my attention. I like the colour.” 

Once they reached the top of the slope she got down on one knee so she could put the flower pot down. “They start to grow in the start of spring,” she informed him of her learnings.

“Oh well lucky timing then huh?” The sun set came late in spring, and it was only just setting now in a lovely pink and blue hue. The air was only starting to cool and nip at his skin, but it would still be nice for another half hour at most, and Schaeffer was preparing a hole in the soil quite quickly. “I don’t think you’re supposed to plant flowers on the training field,” he advised her. 

“Oh who’re you going to tell?” She quipped. 

He laughed, surprised to hear she was going to break the rules like that. Not that he wasn’t going to let her get away with it anyways. He’d let her have this, he wasn’t sure what it was but there seemed to be something of great importance about this flower. 

Her face was getting red as she patted it firmly down into the earth. “You don’t think cadets are gonna dig it up do you?” 

He shrugged, shaking his head. He’d ensure they didn’t. “You’re fine, Schaeffer.” 

She wiped a hand under her nose, and then her sleeve across her eyes as she cleared her throat. And then she just stood there, staring at the flower. 

“Do you want this back!” He promoted, handing back the pot of lavender which she held close to her chest, sniffling just ever so slightly. “Hey, Schaeffer?” 

“Yes, General?” 

“Are you crying?” He tried not to chuckle. 

“What? No!” She elbowed him with her free arm, not holding back much at all. 

He laughed as he held a hand to his chest to nurse it. “Careful, Schaeffer! It’s okay to cry, you know?” 

“Ugh, don’t be disgusting,” she finally turned her back to the sunflower, turning quickly to march back down the slope, and he hurried after her with a grin. “It’s just allergies.”


End file.
